Miami Heat guard Mason robbed at Miami restaurant, watch recovered

December 3, 2013|By Shandel Richardson, South Florida Sun Sentinel

MIAMI —

After the third occurrence in less than a year, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra felt it was time to address the issue.

On Sunday, guard Roger Mason Jr., became the latest Heat player victimized in a burglary attempt. He was among those robbed at Ni.Do. Caffe in Miami, hours after the Heat defeated the Charlotte Bobcats.

So after the latest incident, Spoelstra had a talk with the team Monday about being aware when in public.

“Awareness,” Spoelstra said. “That’s why spent a little bit of time talking about it yesterday. We’ll continue to talk about it with our security staff. This brings it back to light and awareness will certainly have to be something that our guys understand.”

Mason was robbed of a Rolex watch while his sister’s purse was stolen. According to the police report, shots were fired during the incident. No one was hit, with four suspects then fleeing. Mason's watch and his sister's purse later were recovered from an Escalade, with two suspects arrested.

Mason did not speak with reporters about the incident after the morning shootaround before Tuesday’s game against the Detroit Pistons. A Heat spokesman then said Mason would not discuss it during pregame availability because the “ongoing legal investigation.”

“It was a scary moment,” Spoelstra said. “We talked about it as a team. Thankfully, they came out of it [unharmed]. You have to count your blessings sometimes. There are so many unpredictable things that can happen when you think you’re just going out for a nice dinner. Thankfully, everybody is safe and two of the people have been caught.”

The incident comes just eight months after two Heat players were victims or targeted in burglary cases.. In April, center Chris Bosh's home was robbed of more than $450,000 worth of cash and jewelry. Ten days later, forward Udonis Haslem's home was burglarized but nothing was taken.Bosh said he did not speak to Mason about the incident, preferring to move past it.

“I don’t like to dwell on things, especially negative things that happen,” Bosh said Tuesday morning. “You just leave it where it is and hope the police does their work to catch the guys.”

Pacers top Heat again

For the second time this week, the Heat came up short to the Indiana Pacers in the league’s monthly awards.

Pacers forward Paul George was named the Eastern Conference player of the month for October and November, besting LeBron James and Arron Afflalo of the Orlando Magic. On Monday, Indiana’s Frank Vogel won the conference coach of the month award.George, who led the Pacers to a league-best 15-1 record, averaged 23.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists. Last year James won the honor for every month except for April when he mostly rested with the Heat having already locked up the No. 1 seed.

Same blueprint for Oden

Spoelstra said center Greg Oden remains a long term project. Oden hasn’t played since a brief stint in the preseason and there is no timetable for when he is expected to be available.“We always thought big picture with him,” Spoelstra said. “I know people are excited, they want to know more but we want him just to work behind the scenes and continue to make progress.”